Country Life

Things can only get better...

THE old cock grouse turns and comes skimming downwind in front of the line of butts, contouring the ground with magnetic precision. Instinctively, the stock of my gun finds its way to my shoulder and hugs my cheek like a pillow as the tip of the muzzle swings around below and ahead of the bird and I fire. The grouse crumples and cartwheels into the heather, the neat dark missile transformed in an instant into, then I wake with a start, it’s not a grouse calling, it’s someone wanting to speak to me.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Country Life

Country Life2 min read
Athena
AT the end of last year, the Welsh Government—pleading financial constraints imposed upon it by Westminster—published a draft budget for 2024–25. The cultural sector was treated with particular ruthlessness in the resulting settlement, with cuts risi
Country Life3 min read
The Fens
WITH its vast, flat, low-lying landscape under brooding panoramic skies, the Fens—an area of 400,000 hectares (998,420 acres)—once constituted the largest wetland area in England, created from glacial deposits on Jurassic and Cretaceous bedrock. Form
Country Life4 min read
Secret Agent
WHEN you move house, it may be that a much-loved record or book stays hidden in one of those boxes in the attic that, despite best intentions, stays unopened for months. You know you have it somewhere and that you will be reunited at some point, but

Related Books & Audiobooks